The Internet and other technological changes have brought about sweeping changes in communications and commerce. While overnight parcel delivery services have become commonplace in recent years (for example, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, and Airborne), these services have great difficulty delivering to individual homes. The occupant of the home is often not there (being at work, for example) and thus a carrier may have to visit the home two or more times to effect delivery. Often, a parcel delivery person will leave a parcel unattended. An unattended parcel may be stolen, causing inconvenience for the occupant and cost for the retailer. A sophisticated thief may place a fraudulent order using a stolen credit card. The thief has the parcel delivered to a house where the resident is often not present and then steals the parcel when it is left unattended.
Some retailers have used is placing a number of containers at a predetermined location, such as a grocery store or post office. The parcel recipient receives a message that the parcel has been delivered to the predetermined location. The parcel recipient then retrieves the parcel from the predetermined location. This solution allows for the parcel to be kept in a secure location at all times. However, this solution also has the parcel recipient travel to the predetermined location to retrieve a parcel, similar to a post office box. This may delay the receipt of the parcel. The travel of the parcel recipient may cause environment problems, such as pollution from a vehicle or traffic congestion. A successful retailer may be challenged by having all containers at the predetermined location being in use, complicating the delivery of parcels.
Security of parcels and parcel theft has become a challenge for both retailers and consumers. Parcel theft harms many members of society and increases the cost of merchandise.